Taliban and Afghan government hold talks in Pakistan

First official peace talks end with agreement to continue peace efforts after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

08 Jul 2015 11:48 GMT

The Taliban has pressed on with its spring offensive despite the talks [AFP]

Afghan officials and Taliban representatives agree to meet after Ramadan

Talks held in Pakistani mountain resort of Murree

Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif calls talks a "breakthrough"

US calls peace efforts an "important step"

The Taliban's official spokesman has disavowed the peace process

The first officially acknowledged peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul have concluded with an agreement to meet again after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, according to Pakistani officials.

Taliban issue strains Afghan-Pakistan ties

Pakistan hosted Tuesday's meeting in a step towards ending more than 13 years of war in Afghanistan, in which the Taliban have been fighting the government.

Officials from the US and China were observers in the talks held in the town of Murree, a hill resort on the outskirts of Islamabad, a statement from Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

Both sides "expressed their collective desire to bring peace to Afghanistan and the region," the ministry statement said.

"Participants recognised the need to develop confidence-building measures to engender trust among all stakeholders."

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has pushed for the peace process and has encouraged closer ties with neighbouring Pakistan in a bid to achieve this goal, first announced the talks on Tuesday.

Ghani said the talks aim to "change this meeting into a process of continuing talks," as well as to build trust and to develop the agenda for any negotiations, according to a statement by his office.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the talks as a "breakthrough", adding: "This process has to succeed."

Sharif cautioned in remarks released by his office that the effort would be difficult and said Afghanistan's neighbours and the international community should make sure "that nobody tries to derail this process".

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US welcomed the talks, calling them "an important step toward advancing prospects for a credible peace".

In the past several months, there have been informal preliminary talks between Taliban representatives and Afghan figures, but Tuesday's talks were the first official meetings.

The Taliban's official spokesman has in the past disavowed the peace process, saying those meeting with Afghanistan's government were not authorised to do so.

The group showed no sign of easing up on their bloody summer offensive, launching two suicide attacks in Kabul on Tuesday as talks were about to get under way.